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    1. StonemanCharles 6 yrs ago

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Sea of (now) Frozen Tears

Aftermath of the Battle on the Ice


‘’STOP!’’ Cried a voice deeper than the sea accompanied by a crackle of lightning. All on the icy crucible could hear it, from afar and from the sky, and the last embers of battles were abruptly put to halt as friend and foe looked up astonished from whence it came.

A barefoot young boy in tattered clothes walked past and through the ships of the frozen pirate fleet, holding aloft a shimmering sword.

Prince Alric had seen the fighting on the ice and the ships ahead of him and knew them to be Eodaen. Having walked for so long with no food, water, nor shoes on his feet, the sight of his people filled him with joy and relief. But this was not the opportunity for rescue that the Prince had so greatly hoped for. The Banners were unmistakable. These were his Uncle’s vassals. What disheartened Alric so greatly was the realisation that all ships were of Eodan build. This was civil strife and it had to be stopped. If Alric was to save his people from destruction he first had to save them from each other. Thus the young Prince approached the battle confidently and raised his sword, and thus he yelled with fervour.
Seeing how their attention was grabbed, the sound of steel ceased and he found himself with a grand audience of his kinsmen.
“I beg you all, stop this violence!” his voice echoed through the frozen waves.
“Who are you? A sorcerer?’’ One of the men called back at the princely boy.
“I am your Prince.”

Alric was met with incredulous stares, though nevertheless perplexed.

“And I have been brought back by God himself to save you all. My name is Alric, son of Aethelberht. Blood of Horsa. Rightful King of Eodaland. Now I demand. Stop this violence.” Alric’s heart raced. Had he made a fool of himself? How could he hope to convince them? He continued to stand, sword raised, his eyes looking upon a sea of blank faces.

Back atop the Storm’s Herald, Aelfgar’s face goes pale as he heard the name of Alric drop.
‘’I know that voice… It can’t be…
Here? Now?’’

He looks nervously towards Leofric, and then to Leofric’s blade still held threateningly close to his face.
‘’Lemmy up for a bit… I’ve seen this Alric, I can identify if it’s him.’’

Leofric frowned at this development. Aelfgar’s surprise appeared to be genuine, but for all he knew this was some elaborate ploy. After all, why would the King of Eodaeland be out here? Where did he come from? Why did the ice freeze? There were so many questions. And what was that sword…

“Watch him, Peric,” Leofric ordered. Peric nodded, moving his axe to Aelfgar’s throat at the same time Leofric moved his own blade away. He eyed the boarders warily, and walked over to the railing to get a look at the Prince.

The Prince had been a boy when Leofric had last seen him, and at this distance all he could confirm was that he had the same hair colour. The odds that this boy actually was the Prince remained unlikely. But Leofric picked up a coil of rope, tied it tightly to the railing, and let it drop.

“If you are who you say you are, ‘my King’, then climb on up!”

Alric lowered his sword. He had certainly garnered the attention he required but perhaps more so from the sheer surprise his presence had caused. He dared not refuse this outstretched hand and began to walk towards Leofric’s ship, sheathing his sword.
He clinged to the rope and began to pull himself up until finally at the railing, slumping himself onto the deck. The Prince looked at the blank faces surrounding him until his gaze reached Aelfgar, the first familiar face he had looked upon for some time, though not a friendly one. Alric knew him to be one of his Uncle’s most trusted bootlicks and to see him in such a compromising position did give the Prince a guilty sense of relief. But this wasn’t the time to score a petty point against Badastan. Alric was no longer the boy he had been and his divine experience brought duty to the very front of his mind.

“It is true what I say, I am King by right. But right alone does not make a King. It is my mission to prove myself worthy of the people I will rule and that is what brings me here.” Alric spoke softly.
“I will prove to you who I am but you must first stop this fighting. Recall your men to their ships.”

Leofric glanced off into the distance. His men who abandoned their ships had successfully driven back their attackers. Even now, they were taking the barrels they had rolled down the slopes and were breaking them open, using their helmets as makeshift buckets to throw water onto the flames.

“Most of my men are already on their ships,” Leofric said, “and the ones that aren’t… I’m not about to order them to roast themselves.” He shrugged, then looked down at Aelfgar. “Are you going to call off your men, lapdog? If you don’t, Peric here will reward your bravery with a shave. But I warn you: he is somewhat clumsy.”

The captured thane bristles with indignity. ‘’Such hatred! And what for? What’s God ever done for you, huh? Nothing. You should’ve stuck true to the Squirrel Demon.
Why, ever since renouncing the False God me life's been nothing but laughter and sunflowers lemmy tell you! Just a basket of rainbows of joy me life’s been!’’

He looks to Alric and abruptly shifts to a grovelling tone. ‘’My good Prince, help one of your dear subjects out of the frying pan, will you?’’

“My Lord, it appears you’ve simply been bested. The power is out of my hands and in that of your… opponent’s.” Alric spoke before looking to Leofric inquisitively.
“I must apologise, I do not know your name or rank, though I must insist such formalities wait until we are sailing. My mission is urgent.” Alric turned back to Aelfgar.
“You must agree to some terms of surrender and while you are my cruel Uncle’s creature I will vouch for your life.” The Prince paused.
“Out of respect for your title.”

Aelfgar’s eyes light up. ‘’Oh thank you, Prince! You are most generous! Truly you are Aethelbehrt’s son!
Don’t do it for my sake, I have little children to feed, you see!’’


Aelfgar looks to one of the housecarls that had been nearly pushed off the flagship, had Alric not arrived timely to pause the fighting.
‘’Tell the men to withdraw to their ships.’’ He snarled to the housecarl, on which he leapt off the ship onto the slippery ice. An air of hesitation and further confusion manifested on the plains of ice, before slowly but surely, the Royalists began to withdraw from the ships, some of them dragging along their slain brothers for proper burials.

“I am Earl Leofric,” Leofric introduced himself. “I have taken to the sea to escape the usurper’s tyranny.” Then he turned to Aelfgar. “Pull him to his feet, and tie him to the mast.” As his men moved to carry out that order, Leofric addressed Aelfgar directly. “I will accept nothing short of unconditional surrender.”

Aelfgar stammers as he wiggles beneath the stiff robes, but the more he moves, the more the rope seems to cut into him.
‘’I already surrendered, but I’m just one man. I can’t give you the fleet, nor the men serving the fleet, since it doesn’t belong to me... It belongs to the Royal Family.’’

Alric piped up.
“It belongs to me.” Alric’s declaration created a moment of pause. All looked to him, some sniggering and shaking their heads. Alric then turned to Leofric.
“Earl, do as you will with Aelfgar but he is correct. His fleet belongs to the Royal Family and is, by right, mine to command. I may be young but I have the blood of my father, and God on my side.”

Leofric raises his nose with a stiff-necked upright posture, scoffing at the prince. ‘’God is on your side? How many men before you have claimed just the same?’’

‘’I will prove it to you.’’ Alric says, turning around to face the frozen ocean. He raises his sword skywards…
“Lord, as your humble servant I beseech you… release these oceans and free these good men’s ships from their icy grip!”
His voice would echo across the frozen sea and a moment of silence would captivate the sailors until suddenly several bolts of lightning crash from the heavens, decimating the ice, causing gargantuan cracks that begin to spread. These bolts are accompanied by a chorus of raging thunder that shook the skies and vibrated through the oak vessels. Leofric’s crew recoiled and took cover, with expressions of fear and bewilderment; Leofric himself flinched and shielded his eyes from the bright light. The splintered ice begins to drift apart, allowing the fleets to bob freely on the ocean’s surface.
Alric stood, his arm still raised in total awe. He had put his faith in His hands and proven that God was not quite so maimed.

The crew of the ship was equally awed, too stunned to move or speak. Leofric moved toward the railing of his ship and stared down, before looking at Alric, and then back at the sea. “By God…” he uttered.

Badastan’s men on the ice having also seen the powers at work, suddenly began running back over the ice towards their own ships lest they fall down the cracks. And, seeing this, the men of the pirate fleet began to cheer triumphantly. The battle was over, and Badastan’s army had been defeated! Victory!

Alric then turned to the crew and spoke softly.
“I did not ask for this. God spoke to me and I felt his embrace. If we do not all come together and accept Him our people will not survive what is to come. I am young and I am no King yet but with your support I can save us all. This I know as fact.”
The Prince turned to Leofric, sheathing his sword.
“For this task I need the Royal Fleet and I may well need you by my side. I know that once I am King and our people have been saved, Captain, you will be known as a hero and rewarded greatly, I swear it.”

Leofric looked toward the boy who claimed to be Prince, but then an alarmed expression crossed his face, and he glanced toward the rest of his fleet. Some of the ships had been rendered unseaworthy in the fighting, and were already slipping beneath the waves. Fortunately their crews had managed to climb onboard the other ships, but it was still a waste nonetheless.

The Captain clutched the railing in a white-knuckled grip, and he turned to face Alric, his face twisting into a bitter expression. “I’ll want those ships replaced, you know.” He said, looking the boy in the eye as he released his grip. There was a sudden tension in the air.

Then he drew his sword.

Leofric dropped to one knee, placing the tip of his sword on the deck. The tension faded, and he cast his eyes downward. “But aye, I’ll pledge my sword to you. Your Majesty.”

And with those words the crew of The Storm’s Herald followed his example. The Eodaens were the first to kneel, and they did so eagerly. Even King Badastan’s men that were present on the ship, lowered their weapons and knelt submissively to the Eodaen Prince. The non-Eodaens serving in Leofric’s crew were more reluctant; they had neither love nor loyalty to this strange boy, God’s favour or no, but they were loyal to Leofric and so they did as he did.

Alric nodded his head to Leofric.
“I will not take your pledge for granted, Captain. We shall sail for Radboudy where my sister is at court. She is married to King Poppo’s heir and I am certain they will give us refuge. There we can repair our ships and seek allies for what is to come.”
Leofric nods contented, revealing a smile. Then a brief silence permeated on the flagship, until a nervous laughter sounds from the back. ‘’I would kneel too, your grace, but I’m in a bit of a bind!’’ It came from Aelfgar, stammering with an awkward grin.

The young Prince then turned to his uncle’s captured Earl.
“You, my Lord, will accompany us and remain captive until the loyal and just vassals of my father’s realm are fit and able to judge you for your treachery of the Eodean people.
Now…’’

Alric raises a fist to the sky and speaks sonorously. ‘’Set sail!’’

As both Leofric and Aelfgar’s men returned to man their own ships, both fleets, now free afloat and thawed out, set off in the evening wind. They set sail back towards the great western continent of Visandza. It must have been the will of God... for somehow both fleets that were only previously locked in bitter conflict, have now pledged their allegiance to a common leader… None other than the one and true King of Eodaland.
Into the bowels of the Hidden Island


The Prince descended deeper into the earth. It was too dark to see, but the hare’s steps could be heard in front of him, leading him on. He knew he was not alone, and with this knowledge he continued on.
But the further he went and the deeper he walked into the earth, the more he was subsumed with the darkness about him. His surroundings merged into black. Alric stopped to listen. A distant and smothered breeze was all he could make out. He tried to listen out for the hare’s steps but the gentle patter had disappeared. The white hare was gone and Alric was alone.

A sliver of doubt. Had he just made a terrible mistake? Was the hare leading him astray?

He groped his hands about like a blind leper, trying to make out where the walls were. A wet smack was heard as his hand touched a cold, hard and moist rocky foundation.
Alric resolved to continue following the pathway down below. He felt as though something was calling on him, beckoning him from deep. And so, using the wall as a guide, he descended onward.

In what felt as surely hours, Alric could tell at last a point in the tunnel was reached where the ground ceased to slope down. He trod onto flat surface in a great chamber-like cave, though he could not see much in the darkness there; he could make out his surroundings with senses other than his eyes. The air there was moist, as was the floor he stood on, and the Prince heard in the space ahead the soft howl of wind, indicating an opening towards the surface somewhere far away.. And if he listened hard, he could hear droplets of water dripping down from an unseen roof.

The silhouette of a rock is at the centre of the cave. Coming closer, he hears a strange throbbing, a faint breathing coming from the rock. Then as his eyes attuned more to the dark, it dawns on the Eodaen Prince; he recognises it as a living being, as something like a sitting man hibernating like a cave animal, slumped over and shrouded in a cloak, its head covered by a large hat to which attached a veil, hiding its face.

“Who goes there?” Alric hesitantly spoke.

The faint throbbing stops. Though the man does not turn around or visibly reacts, clearly it seems to have heard him, Alric is sure of that. And so the Prince speaks again, repeating himself this time louder.

“I said who goes there? I was led here with purpose and I demand answers!” he called out to the figure.

Nothing, and demanding answers, Alric walks up to him, and places a hand on the man’s shoulder as to shake him awake.

...He shouldn’t have done that. Immediately the sitting man flings itself up, cloak fluttering as it lunges at the Prince, a sharp appendage outstretched, taking aim at him as if a lance.
Alric ducks just before the man strikes him, and he flies overhead almost striking the wall. A tremendous leap! After landing it immediately turns about with eerie silence, predatorily determined for another go. Alric takes stance, ready to jump out of the way if it attacks again.

“By God, what are you?” he yelled.

‘’Princeling of the Western Land.’’
The creature speaks with throaty and nasal rattles, affirming beyond a doubt that what the Prince is dealing with is no man. Having made a far leap as it just did, it couldn’t be a man.

Alric can make out mandibles beneath the veil as it talks.

‘’My master is upset.
You upset my master…
You, and all your nations.’’


“I don’t understand… I don’t know you, I don’t know your master, I just want answers.”
‘’Agreed; you don’t know my master. Your tribe has forgotten my master.’’

Though speaking with indignity, it lowers his talon-like appendage and seems willing to fight not with lance, but now with words.

Alric had been educated on legends about strange creatures of old but he only ever knew them to be that of myth. Since his escape from Halbuhr Castle reality seemed to make less and less sense for Alric. And now, after surviving fearful odds he was faced with something beyond his comprehension. He had only one path and that was to find answers.

‘’The only answer you will from me receive, is the answer of a beast. The road your races have taken, is one to downfall.’’

“Please, give me some kind of explanation. What are you and where am I? I’m so lost.”
Alric surrendered himself to the creature, he knew his options were to either turn back or place his full trust in the thing. And so the creature extended its arm and motioned to the pool of water sat at the end of the cave. Light emanated from the water which glistened. The Prince then looked to the being for assurance but it only stood, arm still pointed to the pool.

‘’I slumber, I ward the pond against you. Yet you are different from they, because I can sense his mastery within you.’’ Having said that, an intense vibrating sound came from the creature, amplified by the echoes reverberating from the cave walls, when a series of large insectoid wings sprung from the beasts’ back which the cloak had previously concealed. He flies to the pond, beckoning Alric to follow.
‘’Hither here.’’

Alric said nothing. He slowly stepped forwards toward the water. With his heart he trusted the creature as he had trusted the hare. The Prince’s life was no longer in his hands and he gladly gave it away. Falling to his knees, Alric stared into the blue water before suddenly the creature took him by the shoulders and dunked his body into the pond. Alric began to yell, his voice muffled by the submersion. He struggled until his saw a great light below. A calming light that beckoned to him and in that moment Alric became still. There, Alric experienced something greater. Light of all colours came from the depths of the pond and wrapped around his body like tendrils. They cradled him and suddenly the creature let go and his body slipped away, slowly being pulled deeper. In those seconds of submersion Alric saw his father Aethelbehrt, his ancestors. Alric saw everything and more. The tendrils began to let go and Alric surfaced. The creature pulled him from the water and the Prince fell back onto the ground, soaked with heavy breath.

“I… I don’t know what to say. That was…” Alric panted, he was lost for words.
“A Locust… I understand now, you’re a Divine Locust. That water, it revealed so much to me. I know what I must do, it’s clear.” He looked to the Locust.
“Your master, I felt him. But he isn’t just your master he’s master of all and we’ve… God, what have we become?”
In that moment of realisation Alric understood the great crime his people had committed. And the greatest criminal of them all was sitting on the throne: Badastan… His uncle had led Alric’s people astray.
And all that Alric had done over the past month was running, running from his duty as a Prince, running from responsibility. It didn’t sink in until now how complicit he is in their errors. No one but he can set right the mistakes of his father... the sins of his nefarious uncle. It is Alric’s duty to rescue the Eodaens for humanity’s second chance.

“Leave.” spoke the Locust. “If you wish the fate you’ve witnessed be averted, you must redeem your ancestors, the sins of your kin.”
“Thank you… for helping me see his light.” With that Alric and the creature exchanged a nod of farewell, and Alric made his way towards the tunnel through which he had come. As Alric opted to return to the surface, the Locust called out to him one last time:
‘’Take heed, for if we do meet again -- if you fail, we will meet as foes. Therefore make haste, make haste, across the icy waste.’’

Alric emerged from the cave and into light, and it seemed like years had passed on the surface in his absence. He saw the world with different eyes. Perhaps literally, because as he looked about him he saw an unfathomable sight:
the entire ocean had frozen over… The waves have crystalised to solid form, and the sea resemble glistering valleys and fields of blue -- the Icy Waste. Submersion in the pond had revealed much to Alric, and the Prince knew this to be an act of God. All the Prince had to do now was follow his instincts and cross the icy sea to save his people. And in extension, perhaps all the nations of Visandza. Despite his hunger and thirst, his tattered clothes and bare feet, Alric began his journey. His trust in God now unshakeable.
Unknown beach

Sea of Tears


Darkness. Alric hears only the sound of the waves, the salt sea brine, and the cawing of the ever tenacious gulls. He feels weak, miserable, unable, or rather unwilling, to face the world. He begins to drift off once more, letting his exhaustion overtake him.
‘’Don’t stop fighting, Prince of Eodaland…’’ A distant voice calls to him from the other side of the ocean. ‘’Awaken. They are soon upon you, my Prince… Awaken!’’

When Alric awakens, it dawns to him what happened; he is in the middle of a wreckage of the ship he sailed on.
Lifting his head from the sand, he faintly looks about, to find no trace of the others. They’ve all been taken by the ocean tempest. He may feel a little bit sorry for them, but his head is still dizzy. Having rubbed the sand off his face, he takes in his surroundings. The sky above is still overcast. But the darkest clouds have dispersed. There is no sign of the storm that had obliterated the ship he was on.

In this moment Alric was disconnected from time. He wondered to himself how much had passed. Perhaps his troubles were long passed. Perhaps all those he’d escaped from had forgotten him. He then remembered the voice. His troubles were not behind him. And then visions of his recent traumas began to flash in his mind. When trouble came at his bedchamber he ran. When the tempest hit he hid. What son of Eodaland was he? His people, my people, Alric thought, were in need of a leader. A King. This was the revelation the young Prince needed. Without hesitation Alric set out, spotting amongst the wreckage a stray sword but he knew this wasn’t enough. Might would not save him. Alric needed a miracle and to find one he needed to take a leap of faith. So he turned his back on the wreck and the ocean and headed into the island.

Whatever shore he has been washed on, he doesn’t recognise it. Nor is there a trace of humans having been here in a very long time. The island is barren, desolate and rocky… and also cold. Hopefully he would come across a sign of civilization, and help. He needs to find a way to get off this island. And if worse comes to worst, he has to build a raft out of the wreckage of the ship, and hope it holds.
The dryness of his mouth began to irritate and he knew before long he would need to find water… and food. In that moment he heard movement ahead. Suddenly from behind a rock a white hare leaped out and, spotting Alric, began to sprint off to the island’s interior towards a formation of rocks. The terrain was painful to traverse barefoot but in desperation Alric continued to keep up with the animal the best he could before he began to feel as though the hare was not running from him, but perhaps leading? When Alric was tiring and slowing down, so too did the hare slow down as if to test him. The Prince stopped suddenly and as he did, so did the hare. ...Alric was perplexed. The hare then continued, slower this time, and he followed.

Now finding himself in a valley, Alric finally saw the hare stop at what seemed to be the entrance to a cave. Looking down he saw his feet were bleeding, but he felt little pain. He also felt once again the dryness of his mouth but this time felt little thirst. Before him is a deep hole leading into the earth… Was this one of those lairs where dark things sleep, of which he has heard so much growing up? Looking into it, it seemed almost as though the darkness therein looked back at him likewise. But the hare entering it was somehow reassuring.
Casting his lot with the hare, he knew there to be no threat down below, and the Prince enters.
Unknown Docks, Eodaland


Alric awoke to the noise of seagulls and soft waves, his eyelids slowly blinking as the grey sky came into view.
“You took quite the tumble, my Lord. Found you on the side of the road, we did, in no good shape, I’ll tell you. Found your horse not too far off the path as well.” Alric followed the rough voice to his side where a brown-haired man sat on a stool, looking down at him. Alric recognised him. A wool merchant that had been collecting produce from the dozens of sheep on Halbuhr’s grounds.
“Where have you brought me…” Alric spoke, his voice weak.
“The docks, my Lord, not too far from where we found you. You were injured so we thought best to patch you up here.” The man seemed cheerful. Alric found the strength to position himself upwards. His leg and torso were bandaged and he lay on a rag on the deck floor of a boat. Large bald men continued their work, loading barrels from the dock to the hold, passing him without a glance.
“You can’t send me back- I beg you, sir.” Alric appeared panicked, looking around frantically as he spoke but the man replied softly.
“We shan’t be sending you anywhere, my Lord. You must’ve been in quite the hurry ridin’ with no saddle, alone, at such an ungodly hour.” He stood up.
“You take some time to rest an’ I’ll come back to check on you. Then you can tell us what this strange business is about and I’ll do my best to serve.” Alric was confused and exhausted. All he could do was nod. He had seen this man many times in lengthy conversation with Halbuhr’s steward but otherwise he was a complete stranger. Then he remembers his dream. ‘Get out to sea’ the voice had said and here he was. Alric decided to take a leap of faith.

Later Alric explained he had been escaping from assassins and Halbuhr was no longer safe. He would request the man take him to Dorestead where the court of King Poppo of Radboudy was. There he could find his eldest sister, the Princess Sunniva, and with great hope, safety. For where else could he flee? His rescuers agreed to take him and once the cargo had been loaded upon the ship they set sail. Alric was helped into his tunic and even given a crutch by some unfortunate peg-legged sailor too generous for his own good. Perhaps this would be the only present the boy would receive as it only just occurred to him that today was his sixteenth birthday. Time for celebration was long passed however and the Prince was advised to rest below deck and so he did.

Suddenly Alric was thrown from his hammock onto the wet floor. What misfortune burdened him now? He clutched his sides in pain as he tried to pick himself up but this proved difficult as the ship tossed violently. Crawling to where his crutch had fallen, Alric tried again to get onto his feet. He limped with great strain up the steps to the deck where the crew appeared to be in full panic.
"What’s going on?!" Stumbling, he managed to climb onto the deck, and immediately he saw just what was at hand. Black clouds filled the entire horizon, the rain soaked the deck, and the tranquil waves turned to vicious salty lashes, rocking the vessel as easily as a clam shell in a maelstrom. Alric had been a keen sailor these past years and this was the worst storm he’d ever witnessed. The Prince tried to help the sailors but his injured ankle hindered his efforts. As the storm raged the crew tried to combat it but, but to no avail. And worse was yet to come. As Alric looks across the ocean he observes pillars of water emerging from the sea going upwards, piercing the very sky. At least fifty of them. The ship found itself trapped in a colossal whirlpool. All men aboard held on for dear life, as it was increasingly clear to everyone that this was definitely no ordinary storm. There was nothing they could do.
"I’ve been sailing this sea for fifty years, and this is by far the worst storm I’ve seen! I think in recorded history! What in Xeaxaenot’s name are those pillars of water?!"
"It’s divine wrath!" Another crewman cries out through the pelting rain.
"Only the Golden Squirrel-demon can save us now! Praise him men, praise him!”

Alric refused to listen. He closed his eyes and prayed.
“Father God, forgive these men who have been led astray and save us from damnation. Calm this ocean and clear these skies, I beg you, it is not my time.” A crack of lightning struck the mast, obliterating it into a million splinters. The tormented sailors were cast overboard, screaming and petitioning the divine Squirrel for help. But the rage of the storm snuffed out their prayers, and soon they were no more.
Alric opened his eyes, hoping the worst had passed. But before him approached a wave so great it blocked the sky. He held his breath and gripped tight.



Halbuhr Castle, Eodaland


Night. Tomorrow is the young Prince’s sixteenth birthday, though he doesn’t know how to feel about it. On the one hand, there will doubtlessly be a royal jubilation, apple pie, and he’ll see his mother after seven long months of unofficial exile at Halbuhr. On the other, he will be forced to watch his uncle sit on the throne his mighty father once reigned from.
...The grotesque King Badastan, sitting on his father’s throne, the thought disturbed and deflated the Prince. And something tells him that he’s not keen on leaving it. Alric has had months to accept that his uncle’s election at Cantaware will no sooner be overturned and his birthright restored than the likelihood his father will triumphantly return from the dead and lift his people from Badastan’s rule. His birthday celebrations would be a reminder of this fact and despair gripped Alric tight.
The first month was easy. Badastan had been King a mere four months and Alric’s godfather, Ine the Black, spent a great deal of time in Cantaware, writing back to Halburh of rumours a court faction was keen to restore Aethelbehrt’s lineage to the throne. Now however, it seemed as though Badastan’s position has become more solid than ever and the Prince’s hope is gone.

Alric’s mind began to slow and soon he dozed off. He dreamt of sailing.The fresh breeze of the sea. The gulls calling over the tranquil waves, until vanishing into the blackness ahead. Alric then found himself alone in that endless sea of black ink. ...A violent storm was whipped up from one second to the next. A storm, equally black as the inken ocean. A terrible hail pelting down on his red cheeks. A thick dark vapor filling the sky and blotting out all light.

The storm’s wind carried a voice -- a woman’s voice, kind, but sternly spoken. And it is speaking to him. ‘’Black...- Grim…- Oppressive…- Dismay!’’ This is all he can discern. Though what little he understood through the ink tempest was rather foreboding. It sounds like someone’s trying to warn him of something.

Alric cries out into the blackness. ‘’What are you saying?!’’

And the voice of the wind replies. ‘’Overcome this Black tide. Though your future is one of Grim deeds. Though your future is one of Oppressive tyranny. Do not… be Dismayed!’’ A dark spectre floats above the waves before his small vessel.
‘’What? What are you talking about!?’’
The voice, now distressed, continues. ‘’You have to wake up! They’re coming for you! Get out to sea!
You have allies in this fight! Awake! Wake! Wa-’’
It abruptly fades out as the poignant dark mists subsumes all the world around him.

Alric jumps wide awake, horrified, all sweaty. He hears the creaking of the stairs and in an act of sheer instinct leaps from his bed. Swiftly climbing into yesterday’s tunic and trousers, he heads to the window and launches himself onto the branch of a great oak growing outside his bedroom. Alric, still half asleep and in a panicked daze, struggles to navigate down the branches in the pitch dark and his foot slips. He falls onto the grass spraining his ankle, and it feels like he even broke a rib. Run now, worry later. With adrenaline flowing through him he held onto his torso and moved as fast as he could to the deserted stables, passing an unknown brown steed that whinnied as he passed. Alric clambered onto his white steed and held tight, with no saddle nor reins the ride was difficult and exhausting but he rode nevertheless.

The Prince rode for as long as he could but his injuries made it painful and the pain drained him of all energy. Eventually the Prince slipped, tumbling at great speed to the ground, knocking him out.
For anyone, but particularly Eodan-related characters, I've added some extra backstory for Prince Alric, the former King Aethelberht's only surviving son.
Prince Alric of the Horsa Dynasty

I shall be joining this brilliantly thought up world, looking forward to interacting with you guys and hope I can do the character and GM justice.
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